Healthy eating tips from Robyn Chuter

Favour legumes (chickpeas, lentils, dried beans etc) over grains, as the energy-dense portion of your meal.

Legumes are much more nutrient-dense than grains. They are higher in resistant starch which helps you feel fuller for longer and they improve your bowel health. Legumes also have a much lower glycaemic index (GI) than grains.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they begin moving toward a plant-based diet, is to fill their plates with refined grain products such as pasta, rice noodles, corn cakes and bread. These foods are lower in friendly bacteria-feeding resistant starch, and they are depleted of much of their fibre.

In contrast to grains, legumes are abundant in resistant starch and fibre, which strongly promote weight loss and protect against bowel cancer.

I advise eating at least a cup of cooked legumes per day – some at lunch, and some at dinner. And of course, follow choose different varieties from day to day!

This article is sourced from Hopewood contributor Robyn Chuter.